Apple and Cinnamon
by MoeMoeWordWord
Summary: A rift in Pein and Kaori's relationship cause stress and success within the two bands. Will the two be able to patch things up? ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

"Good to last. " Kaori sang into the microphone. After the sound manager behind the glass gave her a thumbs up, she pulled off the headphones. She came out of the sound booth and was assaulted by good jobs and congratulations. She smiled and said her thanks. The rest of the band had already done their recordings which was strange. usually Kaori was the first to record for songs. But on this chart, she was dragging her feet. She had written the song and composed the music too. The song was called "Apple and Cinnamon" and it was probably one of the best songs that Hakumei would produce. That's what bothered Kaori the most.

A week passed since Kaori recorded "Apple and Cinnamon" and now she was at the cover shot for the album cover. The model was a sexy enough blonde foreigner. He didn't know very much Japanese, but Kaori knew English. So there wasn't a language barrier. He was very relieved when he learned that Kaori knew English and was slightly embarrassed at his Japanese.  
"**It's good to know that we don't need a translator following us around all day..**" he said after they'd come out of make-up and wardrobe. Kaori smiled at him. They joked and became friends quickly. Levi had been modeling since he was about fifteen and they were the same age. He was amazed at how quickly Kaori and Hakumei had come to fame just out of high school.

Eventually, they were put together and the modeling began. They tried a variety of different poses, but none seemed quite right. Kaori bit her lip. She tugged on the coat that Levi was wearing.  
"**Can we try something real quick?**" she asked softly. Levi blinked at her, but then smiled.  
" **Of course!**" he exclaimed. Kaori told him to just follow her and act as his emotions took him.  
He blinked at her, thinking that was a strange idea, but nodded anyway. Kaori took a step back from him, her demeanor changing.  
"**Levi-kun...I...You know that I love you...or...I thought I did...I mean..no..I do love you...**" she looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion, then dipped her head again, "**I don't know how to say it...I just...when I talk to you, my tongue feels like it swells in my mouth and my stomach is full of butterflies..**" She shook her head, unable to say the right words. "**That's how it used to be But now, **" she whispered,

" **I don't know what to think.**" Levi stared down at Kaori. Tears began to well in her eyes. She was truly full of turmoil at the words she was saying. He bit his lip, his brow furrowing slightly.  
" **Kaori..I..**" his eyes darted sideways, his mouth opening and closing in indecision. The photographer looked on in awe. Everyone on set had stopped moving and were now closed in on the two teenagers. Kaori's hands came to her eyes and pressed, trying to stop the flow of tears.  
" **I just...don't know what to do...**" she hiccuped. Levi closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he gently grabbed Kaori's hands with his own. Slowly, he brought them down, straight in front of her. He took half a step forward and gently pressed his lips to Kaori's forehead.  
"**It's alright..**" he said softly. The photographer jumped on his camera. He took a million and three pictures at that single moment.  
"That's it! That's the picture! That's a wrap everybody!" the director yelled, clapping. Everyone else clapped and began to pack up. Levi and Kaori seemed frozen in time, her tears the only thing moving in their little section of winter.

Within a week, the album was on the shelves and selling out instantly. A tv commercial played in the middle of Tokyo and one man stopped to watch it.  
"Happiness don't last that long  
What we had was beautiful.  
Let's not get started with the 'he said she said'  
Sometimes it just doesn't go as planned.."

the lead singer of Hakumei sung on the screen.  
"In stores now! Hakumei's newest album, "Dissection"! Featuring the new hit singles like "Don't Be Jealous of My Boogie", "Main Event", "Champion" and the number one chart topping hit, "Apple and Cinnamon". Get your copy now!" said the announcer. The TV then changed to a soap commercial and the man blinked. He pulled his knit hat tighter over his flaming orange hair. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number on speed dial.  
"...Sasori? Do we have Hakumei's newest album yet?"  
"They have a new album out?"  
"Yeah, I just saw a spot for it on the Jumbo." the man said, waiting to cross the street.  
"..Strange..Kaori didn't tell me anything about a new album..." answered Sasori.  
"Yeah, me neither." said the man. He closed his phone and crossed the street.


	2. Chapter 2

Apple and Cinnamon

Silence

Pein tossed and turned in his bed. He sighed and stared at a wall in his room. The paint was black with bright red faux blood spatters all over. His eyes traced a pattern on the stains. He reached out and grabbed his phone from his bedside table. He stared at the pink Hello Kitty phone that he'd had ever since he had started high school.

His enemy, Kaori, had always made fun of him. She would say he wasn't manly at all. That all the piercings he had was to compensate for his girlishness. She always said his hair looked like a horse should be chomping on it. Pein chuckled as he remembered the end of freshmen year. That's when he'd confessed to her.

_They had gotten in to a fight during lunch and had to stay after school to clean up the classroom. It was the last day of school for the year before summer vacation. Kaori let out a frustrated breath as she was cleaning out the erasers for the chalkboard._

_ "I can't believe this is how I'm spending my last day of school!" She huffed, "And with you of all people!" Pein shook his head as he swept the floor. Kaori looked up at him from her place at the window. She made an angry face and threw one of the erasers at him. It hit the back of his head dead on._

_ "Ow!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head. He turned on her and glared. _

_ "What is your problem?" He hissed. _

_ "You are!" She rebutted. He growled angrily. He threw down his broom and stormed towards her._

_ "Oh you want some more?" She asked, pushing her sleeve up, "Bring it on, Sissy Bo—" She was silenced by his lips on hers. His fingers had wrapped around her shoulders firmly, but not tight enough to hurt her. There was a soft thud as the other eraser that had been in her hand fell to the ground. Pein slowly pulled away from her, opening his eyes. _

_ "It's been a while since I was in second grade," he mused, "But I can tell when I'm being bullied because a girl likes me." He said softly. Kaori's face was a soft pink as she looked up at him. Her cheeks flamed red as she looked down and her face was covered by her long chocolate brown hair. Pein smiled softly. He reached down and placed his hand on her chin. He gently turned her so that she was facing him again. He tilted her face up and leaned down._

_ "So just submit to me already." He whispered as he brought his lips down on hers once again._

Pein flipped open his phone and pressed the shortcut for a new message. He quickly typed his greeting and pressed send. It was a second before the alert message that said "Message sent to Princess" popped onto the home screen. He sighed and closed his phone. He rolled back over and looked at his Hello Kitty clock. The digits flashed 1:30 in the morning. He shook his head. What was he worried about? Kaori was his princess, nothing could tear them apart.

They'd been together for about four years at that point. He'd been with Kaori through a lot of hardships. The second year they were a couple, her brother had been hospitalized and ultimately passed away. Within those eight months of his hospitalization, Pein had learned that Kaori was deep in the mafia scene. Her father was actually the head of a fairly powerful gang. How he had never connected Kaori's name with the gang he'd always heard about, he would never know. But Pein had stayed with her through it all.

Now they were both part of world-renown bands. Kaori was the lead singer of the all-female band Hakumei and Pein was the lead singer of the all-male band Akatsuki. Kaori had named her band after Pein's band had been around for a few months. She thought she was going to be funny since Akatsuki meant "dawn" and Hakumei meant "twilight". Pein and his "boys" had been together all through high school just as Kaori and her "girls" had. They were so similar in almost every way. It was really too good to be true. Pein laughed as he thought about it. They were similar and yet totally opposite.

Even though they had been so close, it felt like something was beginning to fall apart. Lately Kaori hadn't been meeting with him as much and she'd even released a new album that no one in Akatsuki had heard anything about. She'd become very distant. She would never meet his gaze and when they were together she would barely speak. It was a horrible and frightening thing for Pein. What had happened that was making Kaori act this way? Had she cheated on him with someone? But even if she had, he would forgive her. But what if it was something even worse? What if she was planning on leaving him? That would crush him and he didn't know if he would be able to go on after that.

His cell phone vibrated in his hand and he brought it quickly to his face. He had a new message from Princess.

"_What r u still doing up?" _She asked. Pein smiled softly.

_"I couldn't sleep."_

_ "Have u been drinking again? i told u to stop doing drugs. :p" _

_ "Youre the only drug 4 me, baby." _

_ "Ure so corny! How do i put up with that?"_

_ "Cuz you know Im the only one for you. 3"_

_ "Mayb, g'night Pein" _

Pein felt his chest tightening. He sat up quickly and pressed the green telephone button on his phone. It rang three times before it connected.

"Pein? What's wrong?" Kaori's voice floated over the speaker and Pein let out a soft breath.

"I want to see you." He breathed. There was silence then a sigh.

"It's the middle of the night," she whispered. He smiled to himself.

"I know. I guess it is a little ridiculous." He was quite for a moment, "I still can't sleep." He said.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Sing me a lullaby." Kaori laughed on the other end.

"You're acting like a four year-old!" She giggled, but Pein was serious.

"I'm for real," he said softly in to the receiver, "I love your voice." There was no sound and Pein had to check and see if the call was dropped.

_"Bow your head / Drift away / Let your eyelids grow heavy / In my arms / You are safe / Let your mind be at ease / Bow your head, close your eyes / And go to sleep."_ She sang. Her voice was soft and warm and lulled Pein to sleep almost instantly.

"_Visualize / In your mind / A beautiful dream world / Populated with friends / And fanciful things / Bow your head, close your eyes, / And go to sleep /All the world rests its head / All holy men and sinners / City lights in the night / Fade to a faint glimmer / May your dreams / Bring you things / That fill you with wonder / Honey bees / Lemon trees / Floating paths through the clouds / Fireflies / Velvet skies / And shimmering starlight / Porcupines / Sip moonshine / While flying their kites / Close your eyes, rest your head / Say goodnight." _

When Kaori heard the soft and steady breathing of a sleeping boy, she sighed.

"I want to see you too," she whispered, "But I don't know if my heart can handle it." She kissed the receiver of her cell phone then disconnected the call. Kaori couldn't sleep either. Her mind was so full of everything. She loved Pein so much that she couldn't stand it. Her fingers longed for the feeling of his skin and she grabbed at his scent like a beggar grabs at straws. It was such an intense feeling and it scared Kaori. What if he got bored of her and dropped her like a hot potato? She knew she wouldn't be able to recover from that.

She put her cell phone on her nightstand near her bed. Placing her hands over her eyes she laid back into her myriad of pillows.

"Come back, cause I'm gonna be a lonely girl," she mused. Her eyes sprang open and she jumped up. She opened the desk in her nightstand and pulled out her notebook and pen. She went through two pens with all the writing, scratching out, rewriting, scratching out again that she did that night. Her heart pounded in her ears as she composed another song. She wasn't able to settle in to sleep till a little after dawn broke over the horizon.

It was seven in the morning when Sasori felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket. He blinked and reached down in to the material.

"Kaori?" He whispered as he pushed the "accept call" button. "Good morning, you usually aren't up this early."

"I need help." She said hurriedly. Sasori blinked.

"Are you in trouble? Where are you? Should I call Pe-"

"No! It's not that kind of trouble," she said softly. Sasori could tell she was blushing. They'd been childhood friends so they knew each other very well.

"I wrote a song last night, and I really think it should be dance/electronica. But I have no idea how to do any of that stuff and Nariko's out of town."

"You've been up all night, haven't you?" He asked gently. He sat down in a big, red armchair and sipped at his coffee.

"Yes." She admitted. "I was talking with Pein and I just had to get it out." Sasori blinked. He was quiet for a moment.

"Congratulations on your new album by the way." The silence made Sasori alert to her discomfort.

"I was going to tell you,"

"No you weren't and don't even try to lie about it. But why did you put out a secret album? Is there something going on between you and Pein?" That was the deal breaker. Whenever there was something that was happening in their relationship, the rest of the world suffered for it. Although they never realized it, each of the lovers would speak their mind in their songs.

Pein was the songwriter for Akatsuki and Kaori was the main songwriter for Hakumei. They spoke to each other through music. Many of the songs that the bands were famous for were ballads between Pein and Kaori. No one ever caught on though, not even the two in question. Sasori sighed and ran a hand through his dark red hair.

"Look, I don't know what kind of lover's quarrel you two are going through right now, but can you leave the rest of us out of it? We have our own love lives to tend to as well."

"I know," she whispered, "I'm sorry." The next silence was uncomfortable and made Sasori's stomach twist a bit.

"I don't mean to be nasty about it, but that's how it is Kaori and you know it. However, since we've been friends for so long, I guess I can help you out this time. What do you need?"

"Can you come over and help me put the music together for our tech guys? They can take care of the rest, I just don't know how to start it."

"Well," he chuckled, "I'm pretty sure writing the entire song is a good start. I'll come over at one so get some sleep, all right?" Kaori laughed on the other end.

" I think I can manage that somehow."

"Good. I'll see you later today."

"Ah! Sasori!" She said just before he hung up. He blinked and put the phone back to his ear.

"Yes?"

"Thanks. For everything I mean." She said barely above a whisper. He let out a short laugh and smiled.

"What are friends for? Now, go to sleep." With that, he hung up the phone. The phone slid silently back in to his pocket as his other hand picked up his white coffee mug. What was he going to do with those two? Pein had gotten him through some seriously hard times when they were in high school. But he'd been friends with Kaori ever since he could remember. If he had to take sides, what was he going to do? He had a feeling that it wouldn't come down to that, but he had seen some pretty messed up relationships in his lifetime. Pein and Kaori were different though. They held hands differently, kissed more tenderly, and made love more sweetly. The only reason he knew that part was because Pein was a lovey-dovey drunk. Sasori chuckled as he thought about it. Those two were meant for each other. It was just as their namesakes were. Just as dawn cannot exist without twilight, twilight cannot come if the dawn never breaks.


End file.
